Passchendaele

Passchendaele – Philip Warner

Between July and November 1917, in the small Belgian village of Passchendaele, about half a million German, French, British, and Commonwealth troops became casualties in what many a veteran recalled ever after as a  “bloody mud heap.” Such were the awful weather and ground conditions, when General Haig’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Sir Lancelot Kiggell, visited near the end of the campaign.  he reportedly broke down and said: "Good God, did we really send men to fight in that?"

General Haig expected to recover and occupy Passchendaele in two days and then advance in order to drive the Germans behind the Rhine in a Big Push to end the war. The author examines the factors that influenced the upsetting of these plans: the uncooperative weather, the mutinous state of the French army, and the bombardment which destroyed the drainage system of the area and turned it into a morass.

Warner skillfully blends information about strategies and tactics and personal accounts for readers who prefer one over the other. He also goes over the cold relationship between General Haig and PM Lloyd George and how it influenced the grueling course of the battle.